A Mini Macau Reunion

A few weeks ago, we were informed (thanks to Facebook friends) that our dear friends from the Macau Branch were coming to Hong Kong for the day to visit the LDS Temple. We made sure to be there so we could see them. We didn't know how many people were coming but looked forward to seeing a few familiar faces and give them hugs. We arrived at the temple first and waited for them to arrive. It was a surprise to most of them that we were there and we were surprised how many of them came. It was the largest temple trip they've had with 20+ people. 

I know this picture doesn't show the whole group. We were so busy talking, hugging, and reminiscing that we forgot to take pictures with many of them (including our good friends the Knowlers who are both teenagers now - wow have they grown up - they're so tall and so beautiful).

Here's a picture with the kids' former Primary teacher.

And Kyle with his good buddies - these men are awesome!

It was so fun to see many of our Macau friends. We love them and miss them so much. 

Some people come into our lives,

leave footprints on our hearts,

and we are never, ever the same.

- Flavia Weedn

Random Summer Activities

As we're trying to get back into a regular routine with school and activities, I realize how quickly summer is coming to an end. It's been a good summer break. Here's a few pictures from our summer activities that have yet to be featured on the blog.

With the extremely humid and hot summer days, a good bike or scooter ride always ended with a well deserved ice cream treat. On this ride, we found a nice place to sit in the shade.

While enjoying our treat, a little lizard scurried right past us. Ian followed it and got a great picture of it. The lizard had such a long tail!

One hot day, Ian and I went shopping in one of the crowded, outdoor markets. As he looked for LEGO sets and I searched for birthday gifts, a fire truck worked it's way down the center of the market. We were shocked any vehicle could even fit down the street, let alone a big fire truck. We watched as many shopkeepers had to pull in their merchandise to allow it to pass by. We loved the uncongested, specious walkway it left in its wake. However, it quickly filled back up with tables of trinkets, gadgets, clothes, and shoppers. 

For most of the summer, a herd of colorful baby elephants were on exhibit in our city center to raise money and awareness for Asian elephant conservation.

These were Leah's favorites.

We also visited a few museums this summer. In the Space Museum, my little aliens fit right in.

Covered with glowsticks, we celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival because of the full moon or Mooncake Festival because of the traditional mooncakes eaten on the occasion. We visited with friends and had an American version of mooncakes, Oreos.

Our summer has been filled with lots of fun activities and good memories.

Abby's Jelly Bean Pie (written by Abby)

 

 Abby's Jelly Bean Pie!

Ian & I had the idea of a jelly bean pie.

I decided to make it. I chose apple & lemon 

jelly beans. It took a lot of time to decide what recipe

I wanted because we could not find jelly bean pie recipes.

 I chose a cheesecake type pie.

The crust was my favorite part to make and eat. 

I put most of the lemon flavored 

jelly beans into the filling.

Then I baked and chilled it for a couple hours.

 First I coated the top of it with lemon juice.  

Then I decorated it with the rest of the jelly beans.

Everyone liked the pie. And I thought 

it was a huge success.

It was fun and easy to make, if I made it 

again I would probably add more lemon juice,

bake the top jelly beans to make them softer

and I would try new jelly bean flavors for it.

I love and want to keep learning how to cook and bake.